Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez might come from very different musical worlds — Latin pop and musical theatre — but their collaboration on Real Women Have Curves proves just how powerful a cross-genre partnership can be. Meeting for the first time over Zoom in the middle of the pandemic, these two composers built trust, respect, and a Tony-nominated Broadway score entirely online before ever meeting in person. In this episode, they share how they developed unique musical identities for each character, the surprising ways their backgrounds complemented each other, and why their creative process was built on laughter, voice memos, and a lot of mutual admiration.

They also open up about the challenges of adaptation, the emotional toll of cutting songs, and the magic of writing a show that celebrates culture, womanhood, and resilience. Joy discusses her transition from pop music to theatre and how it expanded her creative vocabulary, while Benjamin talks about learning to let go of perfection and embrace joyful collaboration. Plus, the duo reflects on what it means to be “activated” — a word you’ll never hear the same way again after this conversation.

Joy Huerta is a Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, best known as one half of the internationally acclaimed Latin pop duo Jesse & Joy. Benjamin Velez is an ASCAP award-winning composer whose work has been developed by Lincoln Center Theater, Ars Nova, and the Public Theater. Together, they co-composed the original Broadway score for Real Women Have Curves, now playing at the James Earl Jones Theatre.

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